“Brown Pelican” 40″ x 60″ Watercolor ©2014 Mindy Lighthipe
I just finished a commission for a client who wanted a “Brown Pelican” for his new beach house in Florida. I was thrilled to receive this commission and then I found out he wanted it 40″ wide x 60″ tall. Yikes! I have never painted anything bigger than a standard sheet of watercolor which is 22″ x 30″. I was up for the challenge and had a blast! I thought I would share with you the process I went through to paint something this big.
– My first task was to find paper this big. I found that Lanaquarelle makes 300 lb. watercolor hotpress paper available 40″ x 60″ and is available at NY Central Art Supply. I ORDERD 2 SHEETS…… just in case!
– The 2 sheets came tightly rolled up in a cardboard box and my next task was to figure out how to uncurl it and get it to lay flat…… A trip to HomeDepot! I found a finished birch panel and had the salesman cut the board 44″ x 64″ so I would have some excess board all the way around….. Now to get it home! I had to rent a truck from HomeDepot and luckily we bought a new grill so I was able to capitalize on my business expenses by throwing the grill on the back too.
– I placed clean garbage bags on my studio floor and uncurled the paper on top of it and then covered the paper with more garbage bags and then placed the birch panel on top of it all. The weight of the panel made the paper stay flat. After a day or 2 I was able to use plastic clamps on the paper to keep it on the panel.
– I submitted 4 thumbnail sketches to the client with the general proportions mapped out. This is the sketch that was chosen. I did a detailed graphite drawing of what it was going to look like, for me as well as the client.
– I scanned the finished graphite drawing into my computer and projected it onto the panel with the watercolor paper attached. I lightly traced the outline and some of the details onto the paper. This step helped me to keep the proportions in tact and made sure that the pelican was centered on the paper.
– I was super nervous about getting the pristine white watercolor paper dirty, so I placed a large sheet of tracing vellum over the paper and cut out sections to work on in flaps so the rest of the paper would not get smudged by my hands…… I am a total slob when I work! This helped a great deal.
– I propped the birch panel onto some wooden crates so that I could get to the bottom of the painting. When I couldn’t reach the bottom, I flipped it upside down and worked on it that way. Once the graphite drawing was created. I was ready for paint.
– Adding gouache and watercolor was intimidating at first. With the panel vertical, the paint might have run down the paper. I did not want to lay the painting flat on the ground. I usually wet the paper first before applying watercolor or gouache. This time I mixed up the colors I needed and applied them in a thin coat with a large #10 watercolor round brush. The graphite was visible through the light washes of color and it created a seal so the graphite did not move or smear any more.
– Additional layers of watercolor and gouache were applied until I achieved the color saturation I was looking for. The process from the thumbnail sketches to the finish painting was about 6 weeks.
– The next challenge was to scan the image! My husband and I rigged up a table along with 2 saw horses and moved the painting along my 8.5″ x 11″ Epson scanner. It took 42 scans before I was able to capture all of the painting. I did this in the same method as described in my eBook- Scan YOUR Art.
– I used Photoshop to “stitch” the picture together and clean up the background. It is now ready to be shipped to the client.
This was an awesome experience. I loved every challenge that came my way. I can’t wait to do more!!!!! If you are interested in ordering an archival print of this painting please Contact Mindy
Hi Mindy! I am such a fan of your work. It was nice to know your process for such a large piece. What a fabulous outcome! Congrats on your commission! I am sure the client is “over the moon” pleased!!
Thanks Linda for your kind words. I shipped the painting yesterday and it should arrive tomorrow. He seemed super happy with the images I sent him of the process. I was really happy with it and plan on doing more!
Cheers,
Mindy
the pelican is just magnificent! i have a few questions…how did you project the image to enlarge it? how do you combine watercolor and gouache? i have an artisan 810 epson scanner. i have trouble scanning large pieces because the flatbed is slightly depressed making it difficult to get everything in focus for large scans. do you avoid this by increasing the number of scans? it gets rather pricey to have large pieces (22×30) scanned professionally.
thanks,
beth
Hi Beth,
So glad you like the Pelican!I have an Epson Projector that plugs into my computer. I scanned the small finished graphite drawing I did into the computer and then projected it directly onto the watercolor paper which was clamped onto the birch panel. I use gouache when I want something to be opaque and use watercolor when I want to apply transparent washes to show the color from underneath. I press down hard on the top of the scanner to press the art as close as I can. It seems to work out fine for me. I didn’t have the ability to send this to a professional scan company so I had to do it myself and it worked out really well. It took 42 scans and over 2 hours to do it! Hope these answers help!
Cheers,
Mindy
Thanks, mindy.
Mindy, the pelican is marvelous. It was quite an education to follow the process. Wielding such a huge piece must have been a huge undertaking! I loved the simplicity of the design too with the bird and his perch! Nothing more was needed and I’m sure this will be a stunning wall piece. Maybe the client will send you a picture of the pelican hanging to show you how he looks in his new home! That would be interesting to see as a follow-up. Excellent study!!! Thanks for sharing this monumental commission piece! Best regards.
Thanks Carole,
I am so glad that you enjoyed this post. I was very methodical in my approach and it paid off. I was glad to share it!
Best,
Mindy
This is a stunning piece! I’m sure your client was thrilled to hang it in their beach house. Thank you for sharing your process with us.
Thanks Tori,
The client told me that it far exceeded his expectations and was thrilled with it. I was so thrilled…. he was thrilled!!!!
Best,
Mindy
Love this big bird! It looks like it was really fun to create.
Hi John!
Thank you for your kind comment about the Pelican. Coming form you this means a lot to me! BTW…… I used your bird book with my Undergraduate students at the University of Florida this past semester and it was a huge success and a great teaching aid!
Cheers,
Mindy